


Be Happy

by PartridgeOnAPearTree



Series: Fres [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Birthday fic for Naegi, Light-Hearted, M/M, self-deprecation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 09:31:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5923201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PartridgeOnAPearTree/pseuds/PartridgeOnAPearTree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took a while before Naegi realizes that he should get going too, and he runs to catch up with Komaeda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Happy

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Naegi!!! (02/05)  
> This is a sequel (kinda) to 'Never Lose Hope' (http://archiveofourown.org/works/5023591), but both parts can stand alone.  
> I hope you like it!

“Do you think dogs go to heaven, Naegi-kun?” Komaeda asks one time. The two of them were on the bench that they usually occupy, under that tree that was conveniently placed neither too near nor too far from everyone else. Naegi would have thought that he just imagined Komaeda’s words—Komaeda wasn’t even looking at him, after all, simply staring off and observing their schoolmates—but the moment he speaks again proves to Naegi that he has indeed spoken. “I was thinking… What if our dogs are friends now in the afterlife? Wouldn’t that be interesting to consider? What do you think?”

 

“That’s…” Naegi scratches the back of his head. “…a pretty strange thought.”

 

“Right!” Komaeda chuckles. “I guess it really was, huh? But come on… even someone like me is allowed to be curious sometimes, right?”

 

“Hey, now, I didn’t say there's anything wrong with it. It’s just that that’s the kind of question that we won’t really know how to answer, right, Komaeda-kun?”

 

“I know, I know.” Komaeda chuckles again, turning to him this time. “We’re both ordinary, and I'm sure even the knowledge that we hold is something that everyone else here has… that’s why don’t be shy, we can baselessly speculate together and sound like fools. So what do you think, Naegi-kun?”

 

“As I said, you should stop talking about our ordinariness as if it’s a bad thing.” Naegi chides, but he addresses the question anyway. “Well… Maybe, I guess. I mean, our dogs were pretty nice, weren’t they? So I'm sure that they should go to heaven.”

 

“That’s assuming that heaven is real, right?”

 

“Well, yeah… but the way you laid down the question makes me feel like I should speak with that same assumption.”

 

“Haha, you got a point! I guess even Super High School Level Good Lucks like us are allowed to sound smart once in a while!”

 

“Hey, as I said, our talent is not so bad…”

 

“You're right. It is _very_ bad, after all.”

 

“Um…”

 

“Anyway, you're too hasty, Naegi-kun. You should listen to everything I have to say first!” Komaeda smiles. “So I was thinking too… You’ve been hanging out with me for almost four months now. And so far, you haven’t really been into any accidents, have you?”

 

“Well, yeah, that’s right…”

 

“Yep! So I was thinking… maybe, as measly as it is, your luck possibly cancels mine. What do you think?”

 

“I guess that’s possible… Now that I think about it, I wasn’t as unlucky as I usually was before hanging out with you.”

 

“It’s really interesting…” Komaeda mutters under his breath, lightly rubbing his chin. “It’s good that you agree about the possibility, at least…”

 

“Well, as you said, we can speculate together, right?”

 

“And be fools.”

 

“Yeah, you did say that part, but speculating doesn’t necessarily make us stupid, you know.”

 

“Haha, we’re fools no matter what we do! That’s just a fact!”

 

“No, we’re not. And especially not you, Komaeda-kun. How many times do I have to tell you that you're actually smart?”

 

“That’s a matter of opinion, but anyway, you know, it’s pretty impertinent of me to liken myself to you, isn’t it?” Komaeda goes back to staring off to their schoolmates. “It’s true. We’re both Super High School Level Good Lucks. We’re both completely unremarkable, not standing out at all… but there's still something very important that sets you apart from trash like me.”

 

“Komaeda-kun, you're not trash.”

 

“What sets you apart from me is that you're way more hopeful.” Komaeda covers his mouth as he giggles, looking almost demure, and completely ignores Naegi’s comment. “I know I said that insignificant ones aren’t capable of embodying hope… but I did retract it right after, right? The talentless ones are the perfect candidates to be stepping stones of hope. Yep, that’s something I can say with certainty.”

 

“Thank you, I guess.” That still sounds pretty left-handed, but if it’s Komaeda, Naegi knows that it’s a compliment. “You know, you're pretty hopeful too, actually. Komaeda-kun is always talking about hope, obviously valuing it above everything else… If that’s not hopeful, then I don’t know what is.”

 

“Haha, what are you saying, Naegi-kun?” Komaeda turns to him with a smile again. He looks pretty flattered, his cheeks even tinged with a soft shade of pink. “I know you couldn’t possibly mean that, but that makes me happy… thank you.”

 

“I do mean it, you know.” Naegi says as assertively as he can, but still making sure to maintain his gentleness. “You always sell yourself too short… I wish you give yourself more credit.”

 

“No, no,” Komaeda waves his hands in front of him. “Any more credit would be too much! I obviously don’t deserve it!”

 

“I don’t agree.”

 

“Haha, stop it. You're making me feel embarrassed, you know!” Komaeda laughs. “It’s not good if I end up sputtering like blushing nonsense, is it? After all, I still have a lot of things to say… so if you're really insistent on complimenting me today, you should do it later.”

 

“I'm not really convinced that I'm capable of… well, reducing someone to blushing nonsense… but alright. I’ll continue listening to you, Komaeda-kun.”

 

“Oh, Naegi-kun. You honestly don’t know how much of a charmer you are? My, you're such a sinful man.”

 

“H-Hey, you're the one teasing now!”

 

“Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help it!” Komaeda laughs. “Anyway… I know I said that talentless ones suit the role of a stepladder instead… but for some reason, somehow, I can actually feel that Naegi-kun can be more than that. I think… if it’s you… it can be possible for you to be hope itself. Not just a stepladder, but hope. Actual hope.”

 

“Are you still teasing or…”

 

“Haha, no, I mean everything I said this time.” Komaeda smiles. “Do you not agree?”

 

“As I said, everyone is capable of embodying hope, so I don’t really disagree… but you're making it sound too great. It’s as if I accomplished something really great to deserve it when hope is something that anyone can have.”

 

“I guess that topic really is where the two of us will inevitably differ in opinions, haha.” Komaeda nods. “I'm sure we’ll just go on loops, so I'm just gonna argue again some another time. As I said, right now, I have important things to say.”

 

Naegi nods as well, urging Komaeda to continue.

 

“Well, aside from telling that I believe that you're capable of being hope…” Komaeda pauses. “…I wanted to tell you too that I…”

 

“…That you?”

 

“That I…” Komaeda clears his throat. “…bought a dog for us.”

 

“Ah.” Naegi slowly nods. “You did…”

 

Naegi doesn’t know what he was expecting to hear, but he knows that it wasn’t that.

 

“Um, is it okay?” Komaeda suddenly looks a little nervous. “I hadn’t asked you at all because I wanted to surprise you, but of course, stupid me didn’t even think that you're possibly not interested!”

 

“No, no, I'm just pretty surprised. I hadn’t expected it at all, but don’t worry. I'm happy.” Naegi smiles and pats him softly on the back. “Why a dog though?”

 

“Well, I thought it was perfect. Isn’t it?” Komaeda’s smile returns. “We both lost a dog once… so I wanted to take care of one with you. After all, I'm confident that if we’re together, my insignificant bad luck wouldn’t be able to ruin anything.”

 

“Where is the dog though?”

 

“He's in my place. We can go there later tomorrow after school, if you want.”

 

“Why tomorrow?” Naegi tilts his head. “Komaeda-kun is not free later?”

 

“Ah, well, I am free, but…” Komaeda smiles. “Are you?”

 

Naegi furrows his eyebrows. “I am. Why?”

 

“No, you're not.” He giggles. Naegi was about to deliver a confused rebuttal, but the sound of his own voice gets drowned out by the ringing of the bell, signifying that it’s time for them to return to their classes. Komaeda practically hops off the bench, pushing himself off with his hands, so Naegi follows suit.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Naegi speaks again when the bell finishes ringing, and they both walk away from the bench. “I really am free. What makes you think otherwise?”

 

Komaeda faces him and immediately takes his hand. Naegi was surprised, but he just curiously watches, letting Komaeda do whatever he's doing. Komaeda has that familiar tinge of pink on his cheeks again as he maintains his cheerful smile. “I'm flattered, really, I am. But you should hang out with someone else after school today. After all, isn’t it your birthday, Naegi-kun?”

 

“Ah…” Naegi blinks. “Oh. Right... It is my birthday.”

 

As Komaeda giggles and lets go, Naegi feels something small and firm in his hand. He quickly opens his palm, and he blinks again when he sees that there was a candy on it now, wrapped in red with a small drawing of cherries.

 

It’s that candy that was popular the time the two of them first met. If so, then this one should have a message too—

 

Naegi turns it over, and he finds himself smiling when he sees the words on it.

 

‘ _Be happy!_ ’, it said. Just this simple gesture is enough, but—

 

“Happy birthday, Naegi-kun.” He hears Komaeda’s soft voice again. “You deserve all the happiness in this world. May this new year of yours be filled with hope yet again.”

 

Naegi clutches on the candy in his hand tighter as Komaeda already continues walking, leaving him in his position. It took a while before Naegi realizes that he should get going too, and he runs to catch up with Komaeda.

 

“I'm free later, Komaeda-kun! Hang out with me!” He calls out. He can’t believe that running and shouting at the same time is this tiring. “I can’t fulfill your message if you don’t celebrate with me, you know!”

 

When Komaeda turns around that time to face him, Naegi realizes that maybe he's capable of reducing someone into blushing nonsense, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Pic of the candy: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qma8kHtkf3s/T4QjSbVpSgI/AAAAAAAAACk/Om7fXZa_1YA/s1600/tumblr_m0ewizMLrs1qio48mo1_500.jpg  
> This pic ain't mine though because I wasn't able to buy one that says this message ;u;


End file.
